Big Idea Course: Student Series
Your self-guided online course to go from idea to launch.
Enroll in Program
The Big Idea Course is designed to teach aspiring entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators how to more intelligently start, fundraise, and grow a successful new venture. This program will not only introduce you to cutting-edge academic thought in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship, but also share best practices of founders, investors, and innovators from all over the world as they share their inspiring stories of both entrepreneurial success and failure.
The curriculum is based on the popular startup book, Nail It Then Scale It, by Dr. Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, and will show you how to take your innovative idea all the way to a successful company launch. It covers the essential processes and skills to be successful as an entrepreneur. Specifically, we will teach you how to tackle the right things in the right order, validate ideas and solutions with customers, and properly authenticate a repeatable business model. By carefully following the requirements outlined in this program, we're confident that you will improve your chances of achieving successful outcomes with your startup and increase your opportunities to obtain funding in the future.
Your Instructor
Program Curriculum
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Preview1. Welcome to the Big Idea Accelerator Program (5 min.)
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Preview2. Introduction to the Accelerator - Part I (3 min.)
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Preview3. Introduction to the Accelerator - Part II (4 min.)
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Preview4. Applying Concepts through Assignments (3 min.)
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Preview5. Certificate of Program Completion (2 min.)
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Preview6. Identifying a Startup Idea - Part I (3 min.)
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Preview7. Identifying a Startup Idea - Part II (5 min.)
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Preview8. Assignment: Identify a Startup Idea
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StartUnit 1: Why Entrepreneurs are Failing
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Start1.1. David and His First Startup - SoccerStats.com (4 min.)
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Start1.2. Greg and His First Startup - CrimeReports.com (4 min.)
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Start1.3. Entrepreneurship and Failure (2 min.)
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Start1.4. Paul Ahlstrom of Alta Ventures on Why Entrepreneurs are Failing (5 min.)
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Start1.5. Paul Ahlstrom of Alta Ventures on Premature Scaling (2 min.)
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Start1.6. Premature Scaling of a Startup (2 min.)
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Start1.7. Trap 1: The Process Trap (3 min.)
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Start1.8. Dr. Nathan Furr of INSEAD on the Process Trap (9 min.)
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Start1.9. There.com and IMVU on the Process Trap - Part I (3 min.)
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Start1.10. There.com and IMVU on the Process Trap - Part II (3 min.)
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Start1.11. Perri Gorman of Archive.ly on Understanding the Market First (2 min.)
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Start1.12. Trap 2: The Hero Trap (6 min.)
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Start1.13. Neal and Jeff Harmon of Orabrush on the Hero Trap (2 min.)
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Start1.14. Trap 3: The Money Trap (7 min.)
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Start1.15. Charles Huang of RedOctane on the Money Trap (5 min.)
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Start1.16. Jared Allgood of ClassTop on the Money Trap (2 min.)
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Start1.17. Overcoming the Traps of Entrepreneurship (3 min.)
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Start1.18. Revisiting Greg and CrimeReports.com (2 min.)
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Start1.19. Assignment: What Comes After a Big Idea?
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Start1.20. Assignment: Interview a Failed Entrepreneur
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StartUnit 2: Innovation and Risk
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Start2.1. What is Innovation? (6 min.)
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Start2.2. The Risks of Innovation (6 min.)
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Start2.3. Anthony Soohoo of Dot & Bo on Addressing Market Risk First (1 min.)
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Start2.4. Entrepreneurs Innovate and Customers Validate (4 min.)
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Start2.5. The Technology Adoption Life Cycle (3 min.)
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Start2.6. The Chasm between Early Adopters and Early Majority (3 min.)
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Start2.7. Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm (33 min.)
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Start2.8. Crossing the Chasm - Going Vertical v. Horizontal (3 min.)
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Start2.9. Paul Ahlstrom of Alta Ventures on Crossing the Chasm (4 min.)
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Start2.10. Charles Huang of RedOctane on the Risks of Innovation (10 min.)
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Start2.11. The Great Black Hole of Innovation (3 min.)
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Start2.12. The Nail It Then Scale It Method (4 min.)
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Start2.13. Assignment: Invention + Market Insight = Innovation
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Start2.14. Assignment: Teach Technology and Market Risk